6 Easy Ways to Eat Healthier

The first technique is to use a plate that has a high contrast color with your food. If your food matches the plate, your brain will have trouble recognizing the plate from the portion size and you’ll just eat and eat more. To be safe, you can choose plates that are dark blue or dark green since these colors contrast with light-colored food like potatoes, pasta, and rice. They won’t be in contrast with leafy greens and dark-colored vegetables which will allow you to eat them more.

Use a smaller plate. The bigger the plate, the bigger the portions you’ll take. A study conducted by Wansink and his team found out that if you served dinner on 10-inch plates, replacing your 12-inch ones, you would eat 22% less food over the course of the following year. The “putting less on your plate” strategy is barely applied. Having small portions of food on a large plate will bug your mind. Eating from a smaller plate is like trying to trick your stomach that it’s already full.

THE STORAGE TACTICS

Expose healthy foods. Make sure you can see them immediately when you enter the kitchen or when your open your refrigerator. Display them in places you usually check when you’re looking for food. A bowl of fruits or nuts can be positioned near your front door or someplace where you habitually pass by. This is perfect when you’re in a hurry to leave the house and in need of a snack you can eat along the way. They’ll be easy to grab since they’re the first or last food you’ll see.

Wrapping can make a difference too! Use tin foil to wrap unhealthy foods and use plastic wrap for healthy ones. Food stored in plastic wraps are easier to see and attract you than those you cannot see. Of course, you have to hide them in a cabinet as well or in a place you don’t find noticeable. Your eyes are the windows to your soul (or to your stomach, in this case) so make sure you don’t tempt yourself. Most of the time, our brain decides what our body wants to eat depending on what the eyes see.

THE OUTER RING APPROACH

This approach is useful during shopping time. It means you should shop on the outer ring or area of the store and avoid walking down the aisles. “Why is this useful?” you ask. Well, because healthy food such as vegetables, fruits, fish, lean meats, eggs, and even nuts are positioned on the outer perimeter of the grocery shops. This means you’ll have no choice but to buy, cook and eat what’s healthy.

THE SOCIAL SYSTEM

This system means you must hang out with people who eat healthy food. Look for people who are concerned with what they intake. They’ll influence you to eat healthier if you socialize with them a lot. They can even control your intake of junk foods or remind you how many carbohydrates a food has!